''The Wooden Box'' ( es, La caja, links=no) is a 2006 Spanish-Portuguese black comedy film directed and written by Juan Carlos Falcón in his directorial feature debut which stars Ángela Molina, Elvira Mínguez,

Antonia San Juan Antonia San Juan Fernández (born 22 May 1961) is a Spanish actress, director and screenwriter. Biography She was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. At 19 she went to Madrid, where she started working as a professional theatre actre ...

Vladimir Cruz Vladimir Cruz Marrero (born 26 July 1965) is a Cuban actor, screenwriter, playwright, film and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in the film '' Strawberry and Chocolate'' (1994). Career Cruz made his acting debut on the st ...

, and María Galiana.

Plot

Set in a

Canarian Canary Islanders, or Canarians ( es, canarios), are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of European settlers and abor ...

village in 1965, the plot follows Eloísa, a widow who sets a makeshift

wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...

for her deceased husband Don Lucio (with whom all the locals have scores to settle) in the residence of her friend Isabel.

Cast

Production

''The Wooden Box'' is inspired by novel ''Nos dejaron el muerto''. It is a Spanish-Portuguese co-production by Aiete-Ariane Films and Oberón Cinematográfica alongside Take 2000, with support from Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Ayuntamiento de Pájara, , , Patronato de Turismo de La Palma, and Canarias Cultura en Red. It was shot in the islands of

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

and La Palma while filming for some indoor footage took place in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Release

The film was selected for screening out of competition at the 51st Valladolid International Film Festival on 27 October 2006. It was theatrically released in Spain on 1 June 2007.

Reception

Pere Vall of '' Fotogramas'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting its looks and the actresses as the best things about the film whilst citing the characters of Vladimir Cruz and Jordi Dauder as the worst things about it. Javier Ocaña of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' considered that despite a story with almost always promising situations, the black comedy film is flawed because of a mise-en-scène that "is continually stagnant", the editing, and dialogues which are not as fast as they should be, writing that "it is as if

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, and s ...

had filmed a script by

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spain , Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic critiques of Spanish culture ...

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2007 , ,

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

, , colspan = "2" , Golden Zenith , , , , , - , 12th

Toulouse Spanish Film Festival The Toulouse Spanish Film Festival (french: Festival du Film Espagnol de Toulouse, links=no; es, Festival de Cine Español de Toulouse, links=no), also known as Cinespaña, is an annual film festival held in Toulouse, France, which specialises i ...

, , colspan = "2" , Golden Violet , , , , , - , align = "center" , 2008 , ,

17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards ceremony was held on 31 March 2008 at the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid. In addition to the competitive awards, the priest Enrique de Castro received the '' award whereas the '' career award. The Spe ...

, , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Vladimir Cruz , , , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooden Box (film), The Films set in the Canary Islands Films set in 1965 2006 black comedy films Films shot in the Canary Islands Spanish black comedy films Portuguese comedy films 2000s Spanish-language films 2000s Spanish films 2006 directorial debut films